1. The Indirect Effect of Cigarette Smoking on e-Cigarette Progression via Substitution Beliefs
- Author
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Shannon Testa, Janet Audrain-McGovern, Daniel A. Rodriguez, and Stephen Pianin
- Subjects
Media campaign ,Mediation (statistics) ,Adolescent ,business.industry ,Vaping ,Smoking ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,School setting ,Parallel process ,Tobacco Products ,Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems ,Article ,Indirect effect ,Cigarette Smoking ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Cigarette smoking ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Humans ,Medicine ,Baseline (configuration management) ,business ,Demography - Abstract
Purpose This study sought to evaluate whether associations between adolescent combustible cigarette smoking and e-cigarette progression were explained by beliefs that e-cigarettes substitute for cigarettes in nonsmoking situations. Methods Adolescents (N = 1,799) from public high schools outside of Philadelphia, PA, completed in-classroom surveys at wave 1 (fall 2016, beginning of ninth grade) and at 6-month intervals for the following 36 months (fall 2019, beginning of 12th grade). Results A parallel process latent growth curve model revealed that the pathway from baseline smoking to e-cigarette use trend through baseline e-cigarette substitution beliefs was significant (B = .02, z = 2.16, p = .03), indicating that the positive effect of greater baseline cigarette smoking on the rate of e-cigarette progression was channeled through e-cigarette substitution beliefs. The indirect effect from baseline smoking to e-cigarette use trend via e-cigarette substitution beliefs trend was also significant, albeit negative (B = -.05, z = -2.61, p = .009). The negative indirect effect suggested that the strong positive effect of baseline cigarette smoking on baseline substitution beliefs was followed by a slowing of the overall rate of change from baseline. Given that the total effect from baseline smoking to e-cigarette trend was not significant (p = .91), the results suggested complete mediation. Conclusions Among adolescents with greater use of combustible cigarettes, beliefs regarding the substitutability of e-cigarettes in nonsmoking situations appear to foster progression in e-cigarette use. Addressing these beliefs in the school setting and through media campaign messaging early in adolescence may help to prevent the use of e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes.
- Published
- 2022
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